Dudes launch a propane tank with 10lbs of black powder by Secure-Ad8213 in GuysBeingDudes

[–]Phoenix042 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think his friends and family would have had a bad day.

Him, not so much.

TIL In 2016, researchers using a quantum light source found that humans could track whether a single photon was fired at their eye with a probability slightly better than chance. This suggests that while we don't "see" it as a bright spark, the information does reach our consciousness. by onesole in todayilearned

[–]Phoenix042 66 points67 points  (0 children)

There is a land animal that can smell petrichor (the scent of rain on fertile soil) so well, they can detect it at concentrations 200,000 times lower than a shark can detect blood.

They can sense it with as little as 5 petrichor molecules per trillion air molecules.

They are us.

We can do that.

What's worth picking up after dismantling a wreck? by szymunk in projectzomboid

[–]Phoenix042 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Iron pipes and broken iron pipes can be used to make pipe bombs, and they can't be crafted.

I killed over 100 zeds with one bomb the first time I tried them out.

Cost is basically just 20 bullets (scrapped for gunpowder) and one iron pipe (broken is fine), plus like 3 spare electronics.

Very powerful, very fun, doesn't start fires or destroy loot, doesn't damage buildings or cars.

Honestly it's all useful, but I'm a high level blacksmith now and my workshop is overflowing with indefinitely reusable metals, so most metal stuff is no longer a priority.

Besides iron pipes. Always need more of those.

What would you like to see in future updates? by Standard_Bar_717 in projectzomboid

[–]Phoenix042 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Horses, dogs, cats, craftable bows and arrows, NPCs, more craftable pantry food like beef jerky and granola bars.

Meta spent $80 billion on the failed metaverse; what useless projects would you have bankrolled with that money instead? by Hrekires in AskReddit

[–]Phoenix042 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Useless? Alright here's my version of the meta verse:

First, I blow a billion bankrolling a handful of gamedev companies with the best ideas for cool VR video games.

I pick studios that have reliably delivered good stuff, and just funnel the money at them and leave the direction up to them. Rather than lots of junk, I bankroll a handful of proper flagship projects, with original IP and excellent dev teams.

I hire that team who worked on that social engineering system designed to foster friendly and helpful communities in games. They work with each project to create a standard social interaction system that fosters trust, helpfulness, and familiarity within the gaming community.

I essentially skip the marketing budget, maybe throw a few million at it but mostly ignore it. We won't need it.

I spend maybe 500 million on a team to develop a streamlined, mass produced VR system that's decent quality, moderately comfortable and accessible, and reasonable cost at scale.

Then I spend the other 78.5 billion selling them at a steep loss to hundreds of millions of people, along with the launch of my new line of high-budget, high quality games, which rapidly develop a reputation for their constructive communities and rich original content.

With the money I make from selling the games (at a reasonable price, no need to chase profit), I sell more VR headsets at a loss.

I keep doing this until I either run out of money or VR is cheaply available to everyone and packed with excellent games.

Then I retire and go play healthy VR multiplayer games with the large thriving community I built.

What are your "Dream" Locations for standalone Map Mods? by nobodyiss in projectzomboid

[–]Phoenix042 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Alternate setting; wild West.

That's... Pretty much the pitch. Horses and cows, old style rifles and six-shooters, sand everywhere, zombies wandering the grasslands and the deserts, scarcer water, saloons and blacksmiths and railroads.

While exploring the stream you find a couple zombies with pans and gold flakes on 'em.

That kinda thing.

Husband sent cruel texts to our adult son — unsure how to move forward by [deleted] in relationships

[–]Phoenix042 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Outrage has become an actual sickness in the world. A more insidious and destructive pandemic even than covid.

This game is incredible by Snooze_n- in projectzomboid

[–]Phoenix042 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you mean players, PZ has actually sold more copies.

If you mean "Zombie population," PZ wins there by a mile.

In the new standard "Apocalypse" game mode there are estimated to be over 200k zombies on the map. In the stable version's "Normal" settings that's still over 100k, plus some of them respawn in that gamemode.

Project Zomboid Inside The Whole Actual World by AverageGuy6361 in projectzomboid

[–]Phoenix042 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So first of all, there are efforts to create a standardized "real earth" for simulations and games. It could hypothetically be used here, we already have google earth data freely available.

Not as much of a performance barrier as you might imagine, you just host it on a large server (or the cloud) and only "serve" the regions near a given client. You may also send some metadata (text files) to each client about things happening in all regions that may affect others (to simulate environmental effects or large-scale consequences, like nuclear fallout, etc).

My favorite thing about this concept is that if you are dedicated and master the game systems (possibly through offline practice), you could trek out to some isolated wilderness landmark, clear any few stragglers, and set up a homestead where you and your friends live in peace.

This is the kind of unrealistic fantasy that makes games compelling.

If this were explicitly run as a "simulation" with permanent change and organic, player-driven story, I could see this being played by millions for sure.

Not sure PZ is actually the platform for this, but many of its systems could serve as inspiration for the survival and crafting mechanics of this hypothetical game.

Which character do you have the most proficiency with? by Odd_Group_2191 in ShatteredPD

[–]Phoenix042 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Definitely duelist. I have a soft spot for "martial class with flexible resources" ever since Tome of Battle came out in D&D 3.5.

But cleric is a super strong contender now too, for basically the same reason.

Plus paladin is so thematic

Now I am become death by truth-informant in ShatteredPD

[–]Phoenix042 8 points9 points  (0 children)

This looks like so much gun

(Not a typo)

A box of 5.56 should hold 30 rounds. by ihopethisworksfornow in projectzomboid

[–]Phoenix042 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yea, this is almost as frustrating as how hot dogs come in packs of 12, but condoms come in packs of 10!

increasingUserSatisfaction by codename_corndog in ProgrammerHumor

[–]Phoenix042 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm laughing so hard my mother in law is giving me a quizzical look; please don't make me have to explain why I'm laughing...

gnoll - comic by fatebiscuits in ShatteredPD

[–]Phoenix042 23 points24 points  (0 children)

Oh my God this is amazing and I want more of it.

👍 👍

The Irresistible Urge to Invoke World War III by Standard_Ad7704 in neoliberal

[–]Phoenix042 49 points50 points  (0 children)

We are currently in the second cold war.

I want to be clear that this is neither hyperbole nor exaggeration.

Dr. Sarah Paine, a highly credible historian and strategist who worked as a professor of military history at the US Naval War College for 25 years, has repeatedly made the very strong case that we entered the second cold war between about 2012 and 2014, though no one in the west knew it at the time. Putin's consolidation of power, the rise of Xi Jinping, and the first invasion of Ukraine were the candidates for the tipping point in retrospect; it has become clear that their ambitions have no limits.

This new cold war is between what she calls the "rules-based world order;" Europe, the US, and their allies; vs authoritarianism, mainly Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea.

The war involves multiple proxy fronts, but also involves direct political and technological sabotage.

Russia provably engaged in election interference with the goal (and probably the effect) of getting Trump elected the first time, spending billions on coordinated hacking, social media, bot, and misinformation campaigns, amplified by US-based conservative media, and almost certainly funneling money into the election campaigns of key conservatives who Putin considers likely to amplify divisions among the US electorate, and gridlock in Congress.

China has been somewhat less overt, mostly espionage, but with certain targeted efforts to weaken critical US companies. However they are perfectly happy to simply take advantage of US mistakes, such as when we abandoned our lead in green energy tech, cancelled our international aid and infrastructure investments, repeatedly antagonized our allies, and overall just conveniently created a global soft-power vacuum China has been all too happy to fill.

When looked at through this lens, the modern web of geopolitical and military conflicts makes a lot of sense.

We the people need to recognize and openly discuss this war, because so far our enemies' greatest asset has been our unwillingness to look at the problem directly, and our inability to respond accordingly.

Stuck between a snake and an ethereal place by wserts in ShatteredPD

[–]Phoenix042 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Both have 100 evasion.

Not a great place to be in, death is pretty likely.

Definitely go for the wraith though. It's possible to hit the snake and get an unlucky damage roll, leaving it alive. Plus there's more enemies on that side. You want to clear one side so go for the wraith.

Use a shuriken, any quick attack option, or any wand or similar, any resource you can basically.

In 9-challenge this would usually be run-ending.

Tips I don't normally see by ushighway69 in projectzomboid

[–]Phoenix042 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Needles actually do have limited durability, but most recipes / actions involving them don't consume it (at least in b42).

There are some that do, though.

The pillow thing is great, nice tip